Walk Through the Stanley Cup's History With Frank The Tank | Episode 13 presented by ESPN
The Stanley Cup is the most prestigious, historic, and timeless trophy in team sports. For 130 years, hockey's best have competed for it; to touch it is to touch history. In 1893, Lord Stanley of Preston purchased it in a London Market for ten guineas ($48.67 USD), equivalent to $1,650 today; the Stanley Cup was originally called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. Lord Stanley was Governor General in Canada, loved hockey and wanted a trophy to be given to the best teams who competed in a series of challenges with the winner keeping the cup, which was just the original bowl.
The challenge era ended in 1910, but teams from as far as the Yukon traveled great distances to compete for the Stanley Cup. Since 1910, it has stood as professional hockey's Holy Grail. The original bowl resides in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Today, there are two Stanley Cups: a display cup that is a stand-in at the Hall of Fame and a presentation cup, which travels the world with players from the winning team each summer. As we get set for the Stanley Cup Final next week on ESPN and ABC, I had a chance to walk with one of the cup's chaperones and talk about the history of the hallowed chalice.
